Successful Initiatives 183

The most important development with regard to adult education on the Island was the formation of a movement of study groups. Founded in 1936 during the Depression, this movement was based on the Antigonish Movement, a program of social and economic development at St. Francis Xavier University. Dr. John T. Croteau, professor of Economics and Sociology at St. Dunstan’s and Prince of Wales Colleges, directed the movement on the Island under the aegis of the Adult Education League*®. Within a few years, virtually every Acadian community had a study club designed to promote and teach appropriate ways for ensuring community development from an eco- nomic, social, religious or educational point of view. Thus at regular meetings during the off-season, small groups of men would practice leading assemblies, learn how co-operatives worked, study the needs of their communities and organize projects in aid of their locality. These study clubs, in which the local teacher played an essential role, made an invaluable contribution to the growth of Acadian com- munities. Credit unions, co-operative stores, fishermen’s unions and other such organizations were formed. Thanks to these study groups, people also became more interested in schools and new ones were built in several districts®.

RELIGION AND THE CHURCH

At the turn of the century, the Acadians on the Island appear to have escaped the bitter struggle that took place in New Brunswick within the Church between the Acadians and the Irish. Although the Acadians formed the majority of the Catholic population in New Brunswick, all the important ecclesiastical positions were held by Irish clergymen quite unsympathetic to the Acadian culture and the aspira- tions of the Acadians. In 1890, when the Acadians began exerting pressure to obtain a bishop of their own nationality, they were strongly opposed by the Irish and all the bishops in the Maritime Provinces*'. This long and difficult battle consumed virtually all the energy of the Acadian leadership. Victory finally came in 1912 when the Acadians were able to greet with joy their first bishop, Monseigneur Edouard LeBlanc, appointed to the episcopal seat in Saint John.

The battle between the French and the Irish within the Catholic